When to switch to front facing car seat?

Crystal - posted on 03/09/2011

as long asshe has at least 1in abover her head she is fine her legs being bent is not a safety issue

Victoria - posted on 09/07/2010

Rear facing as long as possible is safest. Until they reach 40lbs could be a little excessive, my oldest would have been rear facing at 7 yrs old & I don't know how safe that would have been. However you might wanna replace your current seat for a rear/forward facing seat that does actually go up to 40lbs. We had one that did that & then also turned into the high back boaster. All three of my girls used that until we felt they were big enough for the little booster.

Heather - posted on 09/07/2010

I switched my kids when they were big enough to kick the car seat loose. At that point it was no longer safe. The boys were both before a year old, and the girls were after.

Sarah - posted on 09/07/2010

If you live in the US all states by law require a child to be rear facing until they are 1 yr and 20 pounds. So I would suggest buying a carseat that can face both forward and rear facing. Maybe you can take back the carseat you have that only faces forward and replace it with one that will work both rear facing and forward facing. There are many of them that go from 5-40 pounds that can go forward and rear facing. This might be the better carseat for you.

Robyn - posted on 09/07/2010

Pediatricians are not actually educated on every carseat. Child Safety Seat Specialists are. Rear-facing will soon be required at least until 18 months in many states as it is 500% safer than front-facing. The data is actually very frightening. In European countries where children rear-face until they are almost 5-years-old, there is much less in the way of fatalities and permanent injury. Legs can bend in carseats. It's the one inch from the top that is worrisome. Have a child safety expert inspect the seat and discuss this with you. Don't trust strangers online! On a personal note, my son is rear-facing at 2 years old and will until he is 40 pounds, the point that his seat and carseat.org recommends.

Erica - posted on 09/07/2010

alot depends on which state you live in. In Indiana the law states you have to be in a rear facing car seat until the first birthday. They have carseats that are reversible check those out.

Teresa - posted on 09/07/2010

My son is 2.5, 27ish pounds, and I forget how tall, but he's in the 25% for both weight and height. He's still rearfacing. The new reccommendation (which I hope will be law soon) is to keep them rear facing for 2 years. It is MUCH safer as their neck muscles, etc... are still not strong enough and you risk internal decapitation if you are in an accident and they're necks aren't strong enough yet. Buy a new seat that can rear face to at least 35 pounds.

Rebecca - posted on 09/07/2010

After my son outgrew the rear facing that went up the 22 lbs, we put him in an Eddie Bauer 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat. You can use it rear facing 5-35 lbs, forward facing 22-50lbs and belt positioning booster 40-100lbs. This was good for us because he outgrew his first car seat before he was 1 year old and we used it rear-facing until he was one. With my 2nd son, who is now 9 months old, he is one pound shy of outgrowing that same 1st car seat and we are about to get another Eddie Bauer Convertible (since my first son is only 2 and will be able to use it for a long time). I am thinking of keeping him rear-facing until 35 pounds, though, unlike what I did with my oldest son. I saw this video online about what happens to a child in a car accident.





You can watch it and make up your own mind, I'm not going to tell anybody one way or another whether they should or shouldn't turn the seat around when the child turns one. But I hope this gives you some good information that you can use to help you make a decision. Oh, and you can get those car seats I mentioned at Babies R Us, Target, or online. There are other brands besides Eddie Bauer, that's just the one we liked. Good luck!

Carla - posted on 09/07/2010

The doctor said use that one unless her legs are bent, and you say they are REALLY bent, so use the front-facing one. Buying a larger car seat for another two months, unless money really isn't a factor for you--- If she holds her body well, (not floppy), she should be fine.

God bless!

Zenia - posted on 09/07/2010

Well the one thing I can say is if your car seat says to discontinue use at 29 inches and she is 29 1/2 inches then you need to discontinue use. Their is a reason the company puts limitations on car seats. Also I am really big on Extending Rear Facing. Some people aren't. With all the research I have done I have came to the conclusion it is safer for him to be rear facing longer then what the law states. If you don't want to do that, I still say STOP the use of your current car seat ASAP and get yourself another car seat like a cosco scenera. I don't know where you are but here where I am I can get 1 of those car seats for like $40. I know you already have a car seat but this one you can use rear facing for the next 2 months...